Vision: Smart libraries build smart communities
Mission: Creatively linking Queenslanders to information,
knowledge and each other
Our values: Engagement, Outreach, Relevance, Respect,
Responsiveness, Value for money, Working together
Who we are
Since its establishment in 1902, the State Library of Queensland
has provided library services to the people of Queensland. The
State Library is Australia’s leading library of
Queensland’s documentary heritage, major reference and
research collections, and an advocate of and partner with public
libraries across Queensland.
Queenslanders make an estimated twelve million visits to the
State Library annually either in person or via the Internet. Each
year, State Library answers almost 50,000 information enquiries and
lends approximately 500,000 books and information resources to the
State's public libraries and other institutions.
The State Library provides access to more than 25,000 online
photographic images and manuscripts and more than 5,500 online
magazine and journal titles.
The State Library operates as a hub to a network of more than
330 library service points (including a growing number of
Indigenous Knowledge Centres), in partnership with Local Government
and Community Councils for the delivery of library services.
Queenslanders make some 18 million visits to public libraries each
year, with approximately 1.8 million registered as members.
Key roles of the State Library include:
building collections and ensuring they are appropriately cared
for and stored;
providing reference and research services to all Queenslanders
through the development of collections and delivery of
services;
collecting, arranging, preserving and providing access to
Queensland's documentary heritage;
developing and promoting services and programs to a diverse
range of audiences, including children and young people;
providing funding and support services to public libraries and
facilitating the provision of public library services for all
Queenslanders;
developing and supporting the provision of library services to
Indigenous peoples;
meeting the needs of regional, rural and remote Queenslanders
through statewide services and programs; and
positioning the State Library as the key player in facilitating
relationships and cooperation between the publicly funded libraries
in Queensland via the Smart Library network.
The Library Board of Queensland is the governing body of the
State Library of Queensland and draws its powers from the Libraries
Act 1988. The object of this Act is to contribute to the cultural,
social and intellectual development of all Queenslanders. The
services and collections of the State Library are delivered through
a number of key organisational programs under the direction of a
team of senior management staff.
The State Library provides:
access to reference and general collections and services,
including books, journals and magazines, newspapers, audiovisual,
family history, maps, music, ephemera and electronic resources;
access to research collections and services, including the John
Oxley Library of Queensland history and the Australian Library of
Art, which includes the James Hardie Library of Australian Fine
Arts;
books and other resource material to public libraries throughout
Queensland and specialist services to public libraries in a number
of areas, including services to young people and multicultural
communities;
public programs and exhibitions, including exhibition loans to
schools, museums and other community organisations;
outreach programs in reference, research, information literacy,
Internet training and digitisation throughout Queensland for
library staff and the general community; and
Indigenous library services including the establishment of
Indigenous Knowledge Centres primarily in Cape York and Torres
Strait regions and increasing the employment and training
opportunities for Indigenous peoples in the library industry.
The State Library's mission, based on the Libraries Act 1988
(Queensland), is to advance the cultural, social and intellectual
development of all Queenslanders by providing world class library
and information services throughout the State, receiving as legal
deposit all items published in Queensland and collecting,
preserving and providing access to Queensland's documentary
heritage and resources produced by Queenslanders.
In total, the collections currently contain over 3.5 million
items. Collection statistics can be found in the latest State
Library Annual Report showing holdings by type of material and
annual growth rates. These collections are held by the State
Reference Library, the Heritage Collections, namely the Australian
Library of Art and the John Oxley Library, and the Public Library
Services.
The State Library of Queensland's Reference collections comprise
books, serials and magazines, newspapers and government
publications. All of these materials may be available in a variety
of paper, microform and electronic formats.
The collection has a strong Australian focus, although material
published overseas is also acquired. Particularly good collections
are held in the areas of: Australian Law, Literature, Business,
Motor maintenance and repair data and Newspapers.
Australian Library of Art was donated by James Hardie Industries
Limited to the State Library of Queensland as a Bicentennial gift
to the Nation in 1988.
Collections
The James Hardie Library is a research collection in the area of
Australian art. It has comprehensive collections of printed
materials such as: books, periodicals, exhibition catalogues,
Limited edition Australian art books,
Australian private press publications,
First edition Australian art books, First Australian art
magazine,
First Australian art book of an Australian artist with colour
plates,
First book on an Australian photographer, Ephemera
Posters.
What is now the John Oxley Library officially opened in 1934 as
the Oxley Memorial Library. Established as a centre for research
and study relating to the history of Queensland, it was originally
funded from money acquired in 1924 during the Brisbane Centenary
Celebrations. In 1946 the Library Board of Queensland undertook to
resource the Library.
Collections include:
Queensland-related books
journals, magazines and newspapers
government publications
ephemera, including pamphlets, original art works, manuscripts,
oral histories
photographs. Our strengths are Australian literature
(particularly Queensland literature) and Australian exploration and
discovery.
The print collections are augmented by extensive microform and
electronic collections.
Public Library Service collections
State Library of Queensland Public Library Service collections
exist to stock Queensland Country Lending Service Libraries and to
support Queensland Independent Libraries collections. Items in this
collection are only available from your local Queensland Public
Library.
The collections reflect those found in a Public Library, in a
variety of traditional and emerging formats:Fiction, Non
fiction
Young Peoples Fiction and Non Fiction Large Type, Video and DVD,
Community languages, Audio Books. The collections provide a balance
of recreational reading, factual data, popular culture ,and social
trends to assist libraries in fulfilling their roles as cultural,
reference and information centres. There is appropriate Indigenous
material identified within the collections.
View the full record at
Collections Australia Network
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